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Summer 2021
Newsletter
TORTURE—ILLEGAL AND WIDELY USED
TORTURE
by Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph.D., Executive Director
Torture is Illegal. A majority of the world’s countries have Who is tortured? People are
ratified the Convention against Torture since it was adopted by targeted because of their political
the United Nations in 1984. In the US, the 8th Amendment to the activity, even if it’s very low-level;
Constitution also prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments.” based on their race, religion, ethnicity,
or nationality; or for their sexual
But according to Amnesty International, torture is used in at
orientation or gender identity.
least three-quarters of the world, in 141 out of 195 countries.
Is torture justified? The Convention against Torture specifies
The US, the UK, and Canada, all signatories to the UN
that torture cannot be justified, not even in exceptional
Convention, are known to be complicit in using torture.
circumstances such as a state of war or in the name of national
In the aftermath of 9/11, the CIA used torture on at least 100 security. However, 48% of Americans believe it can be justified.
detainees, some of whom died from the torture. Suspected
Does torture work? In 2014 the Senate Select Committee on
terrorists were detained at “black sites” around the world,
Intelligence analyzed millions of internal CIA documents related
including Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Guantanamo
to the torture of terrorism suspects. This report concluded that
Bay prison in Cuba, and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
“use of enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective
The CIA used the term “enhanced interrogation methods.” The means of acquiring intelligence.”
German Nazi Gestapo used “Verschärfte Vernehmung,” which
Academic, medical, and professional organizations agree:
essentially means the same thing - euphemisms for torture.
torture does not work.
What is torture? Torture is the act of deliberately inflicting
Torture continues. According to Minnesota’s Center for Victims
severe physical or psychological suffering on someone for
of Torture, torture remains widespread for these reasons:
punishment, revenge, extortion, coercion, interrogation to
extract information or a confession, irrespective of whether it is • Some prominent politicians remain convinced of its
false or simply the sadistic gratification of those who are carrying effectiveness.
out the torture. • Torture is used against activists to silence them and to
terrorize their supporters.
Techniques of torture. Techniques include beatings;
• Governments continue to carry out torture despite
electrocution; rape and other forms of sexual violence; food,
its illegality and are able to contort the law to avoid
sleep, and light deprivation; threats to family members; mock
responsibility.
executions; waterboarding and asphyxiation; stress positions;
• Perpetrators have impunity.
and shackling. Techniques are limited only by the gruesome
imaginations of the torturers. We must elect people who believe that torture is reprehensible,
who will uphold the laws and conventions against torture
In a global survey, Amnesty found that half of the respondents
1
nationally and internationally, and who will hold perpetrators to
from around the world feared torture if they were to be taken into
account for these crimes.
custody. Fully a third of people in the US had this fear.
1
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/4000/act400052014en.pdf Survey of 21,000 people in 21 countries on all continents conducted by GlobeScan.
World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law | 875 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105
www.worldwithoutgenocide.org | admin@worldwithoutgenocide.org | 651-695-7621
1 Marcy Olson, Wendland Communications, Marshall, Minnesota
Printing by Jessen Press, St. Louis Park, Minnesota | Design and layout:
Legal services: Brad Lehrman, Soffer Lehrman Law Group, Edina, Minnesota | Accounting services: Ellingson & Ellingson, Ltd., Edina, Minnesota
The Sand Creek Battle Ground, Colorado
U.S. Historical Culpability with Torture
Indian Wars. The centuries of Indian Wars, 1622-1924, included deafening noise, rectal feeding and hydration, deprivation of sleep,
massacres at Sand Creek, Washita, and Wounded Knee and acts food, drink, and medical care, sexual humiliation, subjection to
of brutality and torture: beatings, scalpings, mutilations, sexual extreme heat and cold, and confinement in coffin-like boxes.
assaults, kidnappings, and shootings. President Obama pledged to close Guantánamo but met
Slavery. We enslaved, brutalized, and lynched Black Americans in Congressional opposition. In January 2018, Trump signed an
a government-led system of institutionalized torture. executive order to keep it open indefinitely. In February 2021, the
Biden administration pledged to shut it down.
Civil War. The four years of the Civil War produced torture on
both sides, within and outside many notorious prison camps. Torture of Women. According to the UN High Commission on
Andersonville, a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp in Georgia, Human Rights, rape and other forms of sexual violence can
was notorious for the torture of prisoners and nearly 13,000 amount to torture. On average, in the US, there are 433,648
soldiers died there. victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year,
and sex-trafficking of women and girls remains an intractable and
Death Penalty. We are alone in the industrialized world in using
growing problem.
the death penalty, which is almost universally condemned as
torture. Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court re-instated the Overseas. The Pentagon has acknowledged that U.S. military
practice, we have executed 1,516 people. Fully 27 states and the personnel have conducted interrogations in prisons in Yemen,
federal government allow the death penalty. The highest number of part of our proxy war in that country. Escaped prisoners report
executions, 569, have occurred in Texas. whippings, use of electric shocks, and other extreme measures.
During Trump’s presidency, the federal government executed more Outside the Law. The US has not ratified the Optional Protocol for
people – 13 persons - than in all states combined. the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), although virtually all other
industrialized countries have done so. OPCAT gives international
Guantánamo Prison. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States,
guidelines for documenting torture and its consequences. Under
with authorization from President George W. Bush and support
OPCAT, international bodies such as the International Committee
from the CIA and other agencies, established Guantánamo
of the Red Cross visit places where people are deprived of their
Prison at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba in 2002. It is the
liberty, to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading
longest-standing war prison in U.S. history where prisoners are
treatment or punishment. Each nation that ratifies the OPCAT is
detained without due process and interrogated without restraint.
responsible for maintaining an independent mechanism for torture
At present, of the 780 people originally detained, 40 people remain
prevention at the domestic level.
in detention, most of them without charge or trial; nine prisoners
have died in custody. The Future? We have a culture that worships violence, and where
this happens, it becomes almost impossible to eliminate torture.
The torture techniques that have been used include
waterboarding, beating, binding and hooding, subjection to
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sand_creek_1985.jpg
2
State Anti-Torture Bills
Medical personnel are often involved in torture. Doctors,
psychologists, nurses, and physicians’ assistants
determine the threshold for abuse, calibrate pain, and
dictate how far various torture techniques can be pushed
without killing the victims.
In 2014, in response to the post-9/11 events at
Guantánamo, several U.S. states initiated legislation to
remove licensure from all medical professionals licensed
in their particular states who are complicit with torture
anywhere in the world.
We at World Without Genocide had support from
Minnesota’s medical organizations for a similar bill. We
believed that people in the state would not want their
health care clinicians to have any role in these heinous
activities. However, the bill did not advance in the
legislature. A committee chair who was impeding the bill
told me, “I’m all in favor of torture. How else will we find
out when the bad guys are going to drop another bomb
on us?”
Entrance to US Base in Guantánamo, Cuba
What can we do? Complicity of medical personnel is an
egregious distortion of the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. Contact us at admin@worldwithoutgenocide.org or 952-693-5206
We would like Minnesota and other states to remove medical to lend your voice to this effort.
licensure from those who have any role in torture.
Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camp_America_gate_-_Guantanamo.jpg
Resources about Torture
Books. CIA ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ following 9/11. Despite
We recommend two outstanding books roadblocks from the White House, the CIA, and other agencies, a
by Dr. Steven Miles on medical complicity bill was passed in 2015, authored by Senators Feinstein and the
with torture. In Oath Betrayed: America’s late John McCain, to strengthen the U.S. ban on torture. The film
Torture Doctors (2009), Dr. Miles writes illustrates the potential for righting wrongs despite obstacles from
about doctors, psychologists, and medics powerful opponents.
who cleared prisoners for interrogation, The Mauritanian is a 2021 docu-drama based on the true story
advised and monitored abuse, and falsified of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man who was held for
documents. fourteen years (from 2002 to 2016) without charge in Guantánamo
In The Torture Doctors: Human Rights prison. It is adapted from Slahi’s 2015 memoir Guantánamo Diary
Crimes and the Road to Justice (2020), and stars Tahar Rahim as Slahi, and also features Jodie Foster,
Dr. Miles examines physician complicity with torture from the Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Zachary Levi.
post-World War II period to the present. He addresses efforts to The film is available on Prime Video.
hold doctors accountable through human rights advocates and Website resources.
non-mainstream medical NGOs. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/world_report_download/
The seminal study The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the hrw_world_report_2020_0.pdf Human Rights Watch
Psychology of Genocide (1986), by Robert Jay Lifton, is the now- prepares an annual summary of human rights issues in every
classic analysis of the role of German doctors in carrying out a country in the world. The report includes information on
genocide. Lifton details the medical procedures occurring before torture for those countries where it is currently documented..
and during the Holocaust and he provides quotes from interviews https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/torture/ Amnesty
he conducted with SS doctors and victims. International reports on torture in many countries, including
Current films. Australia, Syria, and the situation at Guantánamo prison. The
The U.S. effort to strengthen the ban on torture is the topic of the website includes Amnesty’s anti-torture action agenda.
excellent 2019 docu-drama The Report, available on Netflix. It https://www.cvt.org/ The Center for Victims of Torture,
is the harrowing story of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then Chair headquartered in Minneapolis, operates globally, providing
of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee (Annette Bening), and resources for survivors, conducting research and training on
staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver), to uncover the truth of the healing, and advocating for a torture-free world.
3Save the date!
Honoring Tanya Gersh
Every year we hold an annual gala to recognize our supporters and
to honor a person who has demonstrated extraordinary courage in
standing up to hate – as a prosecutor, rescuer, or truth-teller.
We will honor Tanya Gersh on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, at a
Tanya Gersh (Photo by Katge Bauer)
celebration at the Edina Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. Ms.
Gersh, a Jewish real estate agent in Montana, was harassed by The Daily Stormer also listed names of other Jews in that area and
Andrew Anglin, founder of The Daily Stormer, a far-right neo-Nazi called on readers to “take action” against them.
website that advocates for the genocide of Jews – today, now, in
Ms. Gersh brought a civil suit against Anglin, alleging that he had
the US. The messaging borrows directly from Julius Streicher’s
intentionally inflicted emotional distress. A federal judge ruled
Der Stürmer, the hate publication distributed in Nazi Germany from
that Anglin’s harassment campaign was not protected under free
1923-1945.
speech.
In 2016 Anglin incited his followers to harass Ms. Gersh. His army
of online trolls sent nearly a thousand messages, including death WORDS MATTER
threats. Julius Streicher was hanged at Nuremburg in 1946 for inciting
Messages included the following - people to exterminate Jews. Anglin’s punishment? On August 8,
• Thanks for demonstrating why your race needs to be 2019, Anglin was ordered to pay $14 million in damages to Gersh.
collectively ovened. He fled the country, and although he will likely never pay, the
• You have no idea what you are doing, six million are only message was clear: words do, indeed, matter.
the beginning. Tanya Gersh will receive our award at the gala. Invitations will be
• Hickory dickory dock, the kike ran up the clock. The clock available in late September. The event is open to all. Contact us to
struck three and the Internet Nazis trolls gassed the rest receive an invitation: admin@worldwithoutgenocide.org or visit
of them. the website.
Every summer we hold a three-day institute for high school
and college students to learn about the Holocaust and other
mass atrocities; local connections to global issues; and how to
advocate for policies and legislation that promote justice.
This summer’s program, to be held remotely August 10-12, will
examine incitement to create hate and violence against vulnerable
minorities in the US and elsewhere. We will consider incitement
during several genocides; how to find and promote truth; and
strategies for protection, intervention, and peace.
Activities include testimonies from Holocaust and genocide
survivors; a simulation of UN Security Council negotiations to
resolve a current conflict; and advocacy for climate justice, rights Students from one of our past in-person summer institutes.
based on identity; religious freedom; and ending impunity for
The program has received the Ethical Leadership Award from
perpetrators of atrocities.
the State of Minnesota.
Students are invited from all locations. Scholarships are available.
The program runs from 10:00–noon, 1:30-4:00 Tuesday
Details and the application can be found at worldwithoutgenocide.
through Thursday, with additional evening programs, open to
org/programs/sis/summer-institute-2021
the public, on Tuesday, August 10 and Thursday, August 12.
4The FBI International Human Rights Unit in Washington, D.C. is charged with upholding five
federal statutes, including those dealing with genocide, war crimes, and torture. – Ed.
The FBI and Human Rights
by Dragana Glumac, Intelligence Analyst, Federal Bureau of Investigation, dglumac@fbi.gov
The FBI has had authority to investigate The U.S. currently possesses jurisdiction crime, and
human rights violations since 1988, over torture if the offender is a U.S. national, one count of conspiracy to use a firearm
when Congress made genocide a crime or the offender is present in the U.S., during the commission of a violent crime.
under U.S. law. Presidential Executive regardless of nationality of the offender or
According to trial testimony, Taylor
Order 13107, issued in 1998, is the victim.
commanded a paramilitary organization
principal authority that directs our nation’s
The statute of limitations for torture is known as the Anti-Terrorist Unit, which
commitment to international human
eight years from the date of the crime’s was directed to provide protection for the
rights treaties and responsibilities in the
commission. There is no statute of Liberian president and additional dignitaries
enforcement of human rights violations.
limitations if torture results in death. of the Liberian government. Between 1999
The order stipulates that all government
and 2003, in his role as commander of that
agencies must coordinate to enforce This statute applies only to conduct
unit, Taylor and his associates committed
human rights laws within their own areas of occurring on or after November 20, 1994,
numerous and varied forms of torture,
responsibility. the date of the statute’s initial enactment.
including burning victims with molten
Conspiracy to commit torture was enacted
TORTURE - 18 U.S.C. §2340-2340A plastic, lit cigarettes, scalding water, candle
on October 26, 2001.
On November 20, 1994, the federal wax and an iron; severely beating victims
torture statute, 18 U.S.C. §2340-2340A, The Case of Roy M. Belfast Jr., aka with firearms; cutting and stabbing victims;
was enacted. This statute applies to acts Chuckie Taylor and shocking victims with an electric
committed outside the U.S. by a person In December 2006, the first-ever torture device.
acting under the color of law, if the person charges were brought against Roy Belfast In January 2009, Taylor was sentenced to
specifically intended to inflict severe Jr., aka Chuckie Taylor, the son of the 97 years in prison.
physical or mental pain or suffering upon former Liberian President Charles Taylor,
another person within the perpetrator’s The FBI investigated this case jointly with
born in the United States. After a six-week
custody or physical control. The statute its partners and is a perfect example of
trial, in October 2008, Taylor was convicted
presently criminalizes the commission, our nation’s commitment and coordinated
of five counts of torture, one count of
attempt, and conspiracy to commit torture. efforts to hold perpetrators of human rights
conspiracy to torture, one count of using a
There is an exception for pain and suffering abuses accountable for their actions.
firearm during the commission of a violent
incidental to lawful sanctions.
UPCOMING WEBINARS Truth and Lies in the Holocaust: Terezin
Concentration Camp
We offer online programs for the public with Thursday, August 12, 7:00 – 9:00 pm CT
continuing education credits for Minnesota The Nazi concentration camp Terezin, near
lawyers, educators, nurses, and social workers. Prague, Czechoslovakia, was set up to
Details may change; please check the website. show the world that the Nazis were not
persecuting incarcerated Jews. This was a
Genocide, Cobalt, and Human Rights lie; nearly all Terezin prisoners perished. Dr.
Wednesday, July 14, 7:00-9:00 pm CT Ellen Kennedy, Executive Director, World
This program examines the increased frequency of genocides Without Genocide, will speak about the deception. Prof. Michael
in response to the climate emergency and the ‘unintended Bazyler, Fowler School of Law, Chapman University, will discuss
consequences’ of human rights abuses in the global south as green the Terezin Declaration providing restitution for Holocaust victims.
energy replaces fossil fuels. Speakers are Prof. Alex Alvarez, genocide Registration is required by August 11 at
scholar, Terrence Collingsworth, lead attorney in a lawsuit against http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/Holocaust
Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Dell; and Kathryn Hoffman, CEO
at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Registration is Ending Impunity for Torturers
required by July 13 at http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/cobalt Wednesday, September 22, 7:00 -9:00 pm CT
Dr. Steven Miles, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Bioethics,
Incitement Versus Truth University of Minnesota Medical School, will speak about physician
Tuesday, August 10, 7:00–9:00 pm CT complicity with torture on an international scale and efforts at
Speakers Congressman Jamie Raskin, who led proceedings in the accountability. Randi Markusen, Associate Director of World Without
House of Representatives on incitement to violence on January 6; Genocide, will address the complicity of German doctors and the
Mark Potok, former senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center; military prosecutions of 23 German physicians and administrators at
and Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, will the ‘Nazi Doctors’ trial. Registration is required by September 21 at
address the limits and dangers of free speech. Registration is required http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/torture
by August 9 at http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/incitement
5Join our email list at www.worldwithoutgenocide.org. Follow us: 6
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